Migrant Teen from Guatemala Dies In US Custody after Brain Surgery

A group of Central American migrants surrenders to U.S. Border Patrol Agents south of the U.S.-Mexico border fence in El Paso, Texas, U.S., March 6, 2019 (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson).

A 16-year-old Guatemalan boy who was held in a Texas shelter for migrant children died in federal custody on April 30. The teen was an unaccompanied minor who had crossed the US-Mexico border on April 19.

The teen was transferred by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to an Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelter — known as the Southwest Key Casa Padre — in Brownsville, Texas on April 20, according to Buzzfeed News. The shelter operates out of a former Walmart and houses approximately 1,200 migrant children.

Evelyn Stauffer, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, told The North Star that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) clinicians did not notice any health issues and that…

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